Friday, September 2, 2016

Really Hard Week/Baptism of Josefina

Hello Family, (Monday, August 29th, 2016)

I'm glad to hear what you all are up to. Sounds like life is busy but
enjoyable for ya'll back there in Arizona.

This week was a rollercoaster. Some pretty big ups and downs. Bigger than
normal. but I made it through, and am looking at a better week ahead. I'm going
to start with the downs because it's always better to end reading the good
stuff. First thing..,.this week the mosquitos have been super crazy. There are
tons of them. Because we are entering in the rainy season, they are multiplying
like crazy and they are everywhere. We use repelent, but sometimes it's not
enough:(

Second...I got super sick. I had a fever, headache and runny-nose. We think
it was from the mosquitoes. Our house gets really hot at night, so we open the
windows, but they don't have mosquito screens so we get eaten alive. The doctor
thought that I had sika....it's a disease that is contracted from the mosquitoes
here. I don't think I do, but I have to go in a couple times more this week to
check. I'm doing better now, but I had to buy a ton of medicine:( So, I am out
of money. (Note from Mary:...don't worry...we sent him some)

Third...my companion and I have officially walked too much. Our feet are
dead. Literally dead. On Friday my feet were killing me towards the end of the
day. On Saturday, my companion and I both woke up with swollen feet.
Also...because of the humidity our feet have cracked open and are bleeding. We
went to the doctor on Saturday for our feet and he said that they are very bad.
He gave us strict instructions so that they can heal up. We had to buy special
cremes and more medicine....not cheap. He also said that I need to buy all new
socks, and if I can two pairs of new shoes so that I can give each pair a day to
air out. I don't know where that money is going to come from...I hate to ask for
money. I'll try to figure it out with what they give me here:/ On Sunday morning
our feet were even more swollen. It is really hard to walk around the house in
the morning. During the day my feet go numb...so I don't feel it, but they are
bleeding when we get home at night. The doctor said we need to rest, but we
don't have time too. We were given permission too, but I don't want to. There is
too much to get done!!!! Please pray for my feet. Really struggling with them
right now. (Note from Mary: I emailed him back and forth 8 times and told him he needed to buy 2 pair of shoes and new socks...we sent him the money....and rotate his shoes, etc. So don't worry...all is well. He had this issue in high school, too...but it is compounded with the humidity.)

We spent all day today resting in the house because we are just super
tired. Those were the struggles of the week, but I also had several
highlights.

We had another baptism!!!! Josefina, Lady's mom, was baptized on Friday!!!
That is all of the family that lives in our area. They are all so happy for
that, and they want to send missionaries to the rest of their family.

We have another baptism planned for this Saturday. Viki is an investigator
that I was teaching with Elder Velazquez. She wasn't really interested, but,
following the Spirit, we went and visited her this week. She accepted baptism!!!
She came to church on Sunday and is preparing for Saturday!! Her daughter is a
member and is filling out her papers. She is so happy right now!

President came and visited us twice this week. It was great to have him
over and get to talk with him. We had a special meeting with him about our work
in Teapa. The plans that we have, and some permision that we needed. He also
brought us a air-conditioning unit!!! He brought that on Saturday...so we have
passed the past two nights sleeping with clima!!!!

Teapa is going great. Last week we met with the family that is going to
have the meetings in their house. They are super excited to start the branch out
there. The first sacrament meeting will be this Sunday!! We have permission to
baptize in the river there!!! We are super excited. Right now there are about 20
members that live there, but only 6 are active. We spent all Wednesday there,
and now we have 7 investigators with baptismal dates. We are going back on
Wednesday and Thursday this week. I am so excited for what we are going to be
able to do there.

Now that we have two days less every week in Mercedes, we have to work
twice as hard. I am absolutely exhausted, but it's okay because we are seeing
the blessings.

Please pray for me and my health. I want to be able to keep working super
hard. Don't want to miss a single moment.